September Club

Maya Hawke stars in and co-produced this imaginative depiction of crucially formative moments in the life of Flannery O’Connor, one of 20th century America’s most celebrated novelists and short-story writers. Writer- director Ethan Hawke and co-screenwriter Shelby Gaines entertainingly dramatize scenes from O’Connor’s admired stories—The Life You Save May Be Your Own, Revelation, Good Country People and Everything That Rises Must Converge—placing them in the poignant context of O’Connor’s intense religious concerns, and her struggle with the dire illness that threatened to overwhelm her. Ms. Hawke triumphantly embodies the artist’s unmatched combination of bitter humor, incisive intelligence and spiritual vulnerability. Touching support is provided by Philip Ettinger as O’Connor’s distant but admiring friend, the poet Robert ‘Cal’ Lowell, and by Laura Linney as Flannery’s mother Regina, who barely comprehended her daughter’s genius but was heroically dedicated to keeping her alive. –LG (U.S., 2023, 105m) In person: Ethan Hawke